FGM Turns 200! with Mia Nardi-Huffman - Part 2

For Good Measure, by Ensemble for These Times (E4TT)
Episode 214: FGM Turns 200! with Mia Nardi-Huffman - Part 2

Looking for a way to listen to diverse creators and to support equity in the arts? Tune in weekly to For Good Measure!

In this week's episode, we continue FGM Turns 200!, a mini-series where we talk to Ensemble for These Times' members and past guest artists. Today, we continue our conversation with E4TT’s guest violinist Mia Nardi-Huffman, who we spoke to in May 2025. If you enjoyed today’s conversation and want to know more about Mia Nardi-Huffman, check her out here: https://www.mianardihuffman.com/.

This podcast is made possible by grants from the California Arts Council, SF Arts Commission, Grants for the Arts, and generous donors like you. Want to support For Good Measure and E4TT? Make a tax-deductible donation or sign up for our newsletter, and subscribe to the podcast!

Intro music: “Trifolium” by Gabriela Ortiz, performed by E4TT (Ilana Blumberg, violin; Abigail Monroe, cello; Margaret Halbig, piano), as part of “Below the Surface: Music by Women Composers,” January 29, 2022
Outro music: “Lake Turkana” by Marcus Norris, performed by E4TT (Margaret Halbig, piano), as part of “Alchemy,” October 15, 2021

Transcription courtesy of Otter.ai.
Buzzsprout: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1903729/episodes/19408183

Co-Producer, Host, and E4TT co-founder: Nanette McGuinness
Co-Producer and Audio Engineer: Stephanie M. Neumann
Podcast Cover Art: Brennan Stokes
Interns: Renata Volchinskaya, Sam Mason, Christy Xu

Transcript

Nanette McGuinness  00:00

[INTRO MUSIC] Welcome to For Good Measure, an interview series celebrating diverse composers and other creative artists. I'm Nanette McGuinness, Artistic Executive Director of Ensemble for These Times. In this week's episode, we continue our conversation with Mia Nardi-Huffman. [INTRO MUSIC ENDS]

Nanette McGuinness  00:26

Talk to me, please, about the music you've played with us, or playing with us, or, you know, whatever.

Mia Nardi-Huffman  00:31

Of course, yeah, I was so pleased. We played our first concert together in October 2022 and the Martinů Piano Trio was on that concert, and it was also at First... Old First Church.

Nanette McGuinness  00:45

Yes, good memory.

Mia Nardi-Huffman  00:46

Yes, and that was a venue that I had always gone to to see concerts, and I always wanted to perform there, and this was actually my first opportunity to do so.

Nanette McGuinness  00:56

Oh, wow.

Mia Nardi-Huffman  00:56

And with a piece that I had always wanted to play.

Nanette McGuinness  01:00

I love that piece.

Mia Nardi-Huffman  01:01

Yeah, it's so good, and of course, playing with, with Margaret and with, with Abby it  was terrific, and they were both so warm, and then we got to work together as well, which was fantastic, and you know, as a classical musician, I can probably name on one hand the number of spaces I've been in that are mostly or all women. [laughs]

Nanette McGuinness  01:25

[laughs]

Mia Nardi-Huffman  01:25

It's so rare, and there was just something very comforting about that, and very inspiring about it, and that's that's really, I think, what initially connected me with with the group was that...

Nanette McGuinness  01:36

mmm

Mia Nardi-Huffman  01:36

...it was female led, and of course, you know, great music, great venue. So, yes, I've been playing since October 2022 playing with E4TT. Even through my move to the East Coast, I've flown back...

Nanette McGuinness  01:53

Right.

Mia Nardi-Huffman  01:53

And was able to play with you guys again. I believe that was April or May 2023?

Nanette McGuinness  01:58

I think so.

Mia Nardi-Huffman  02:00

Yeah. [laughs]

Nanette McGuinness  02:01

I'd have to look in my archives...

Mia Nardi-Huffman  02:02

Yeah, I know it's spring time of that of that year...

Nanette McGuinness  02:07

Yeah.

Mia Nardi-Huffman  02:07

...and that was also just a really great time so I'm excited to be playing again with E4TT in September in in New York City, in my home city, and in Boston which is where I was born [laughing] so it's a really nice full circle moment there.

Nanette McGuinness  02:22

It totally is! I was born in Boston, also, did you know that?

Mia Nardi-Huffman  02:24

Really?!

Nanette McGuinness  02:24

Yeah!

Mia Nardi-Huffman  02:24

Oh I had no idea [laughs] wow!

Nanette McGuinness  02:28

Yeah, apparently during a blizzard.

Mia Nardi-Huffman  02:31

[laughs] Sounds like Boston. Yeah.

Nanette McGuinness  02:32

Yeah, well it what was funny, because at one point I thought my mother must be exaggerating, so I went and looked at the old weather records...

Mia Nardi-Huffman  02:39

Sure.

Nanette McGuinness  02:40

...and there was quite the snowstorm...

Mia Nardi-Huffman  02:42

Wow.

Nanette McGuinness  02:43

...when I was born, so you know there it is. [laughs]

Mia Nardi-Huffman  02:46

That's incredible. 

Nanette McGuinness  02:47

Yeah. 

Mia Nardi-Huffman  02:47

Oh my goodness,

Nanette McGuinness  02:48

Yeah, you know, when we did that, Martinů, I hadn't known it. I just auditioned it for performing...

Mia Nardi-Huffman  02:54

Yeah.

Nanette McGuinness  02:54

...for us to do when I was doing my season planning, and I fell in love with it.

Mia Nardi-Huffman  02:58

 Yeah.

Nanette McGuinness  02:58

...and I love Martinů in general. We're gonna do a string duo.

Mia Nardi-Huffman  03:02

Oh, that's so cool.

Nanette McGuinness  03:03

This November.

Mia Nardi-Huffman  03:04

Fantastic. That's so...

Nanette McGuinness  03:06

I know, I wish you were out here, because the violinist who usually guests with us isn't available, so you know we're...

Mia Nardi-Huffman  03:11

Yeah... oh.

Nanette McGuinness  03:12

...we're looking for, but it's too far.

Mia Nardi-Huffman  03:14

Yeah.

Nanette McGuinness  03:14

Don't worry.

Mia Nardi-Huffman  03:14

[laughs]

Nanette McGuinness  03:14

[laughs] But yeah, I'm always kind of, in the back of my mind, when I'm doing my program planning a season or two ahead, because you know we're looking ahead. I always have in the back of my mind, is there another Martinů out there that we could do?

Mia Nardi-Huffman  03:28

Right.

Nanette McGuinness  03:28

Because I just, I love his voice.

Mia Nardi-Huffman  03:30

Yes, I agree, it's very well-written music, too, for the instruments. It's very...

Nanette McGuinness  03:34

Oh, good.

Mia Nardi-Huffman  03:35

...playable, yeah.

Nanette McGuinness  03:36

Not always easy, I'm told. [laughs]

Mia Nardi-Huffman  03:38

No, I'm actually, I'm currently working on the Prokofiev Sonata for Two Solo Violins, and sometimes I'll get to something and I'm like, what?! [laughs]

Nanette McGuinness  03:49

[laughs]

Mia Nardi-Huffman  03:49

He's such a fabulous composer, but sometimes it just lays nowhere on the violin, and with the Martinů it's challenging music, the Piano Trio was certainly very challenging, but it's approachable and it lays well on the instrument, so for that I'm very grateful. [laughs]

Nanette McGuinness  04:03

[laughs] Well, you played it beautifully.

Mia Nardi-Huffman  04:06

Thank you. [laughing]

Nanette McGuinness  04:07

I still sometimes listen to that recording when I'm putting together grant applications that let me reach a little farther into the past at this point.

Mia Nardi-Huffman  04:14

Yeah.

Nanette McGuinness  04:14

And when I can, I'm like, oh yes. [laughs]

Mia Nardi-Huffman  04:17

It is quite good. Yeah, yeah.

Nanette McGuinness  04:19

Yeah. So, other than touring with us, do you have anything coming up that you'd like to share with us?

Mia Nardi-Huffman  04:25

Sure, of course. So, in actually about three weeks from now, I'm performing that Prokofiev for Two Violins Sonata with my colleague Sam Nelson. Sam and I play together in ASTRAEUS, formed that group together, and we both play in the Brooklyn Chamber Players, and we do about three or four salons with them per year here in Brooklyn, New York, and they're usually in beautiful spaces. We've played in old brownstones, performance art spaces, you know, black box theaters, so there are always a couple of those throughout the year and I always look forward to doing those.

Nanette McGuinness  05:02

Nice.

Mia Nardi-Huffman  05:02

Yeah, which I'm really looking forward to, and then in the fall of 2025 I'll be touring again with the Emo Orchestra, October and November, not quite sure yet who we're playing with, but it's usually an emo band that was popular in the early 2000s...

Nanette McGuinness  05:22

mmhmm

Mia Nardi-Huffman  05:22

...which you know, I was, I was an emo kid. I loved that music...

Nanette McGuinness  05:26

[laughs]

Mia Nardi-Huffman  05:27

...so it's a real treat for me, and it's a great chance to travel the country. We hop in a tour bus and do a big tour of the country, and I get to see, you know, friends and family along the way, so... very much looking forward to that. Other than that, my string quartet ASTRAEUS is still continuing to perform here and there. So, the best way to know what we're up to is to follow us on Instagram, ASTRAEUS Chamber Collective, and...

Nanette McGuinness  05:53

Do you want to spell that for people who...

Mia Nardi-Huffman  05:55

Sure! That's true, ASTRAEUS [laughing] is a little hard to pronounce, it's a A S T R A E U S, and then Chamber Collective on Instagram, and we always post what we're, what we're up to over there.

Nanette McGuinness  06:08

That's really great. How did you come up with that name?

Mia Nardi-Huffman  06:11

You know, I wish I could say it was some like big thing. I know that we wanted it to be sort of celestial...

Nanette McGuinness  06:18

mmhmm

Mia Nardi-Huffman  06:18

...and we also didn't want it to sound exactly like the other string quartets in the Bay Area at the time, [laughs] so we were toying with a couple here and there, and I just thought that it sounded very regal. Yeah, I remember the other one we were thinking of, like the Acorn Quartet or something. Yeah, and I'm glad we didn't go with that. ASTRAEUS has definitely stood the test of time...

Nanette McGuinness  06:43

[laughs]

Mia Nardi-Huffman  06:44

And you know. It sounds lovely, but yes, when people ask me if there's a deeper meaning, not really. [laughs]

Nanette McGuinness  06:50

No, but what's really... maybe part of what makes it sound regal is the 'US' ending, which is a Latin...

Mia Nardi-Huffman  06:56

True.

Nanette McGuinness  06:56

...ending, so it sounds like there's this mighty precedent... [laughs]

Mia Nardi-Huffman  07:00

[laughs]

Nanette McGuinness  07:01

...and then the ASTRA, so you're celestial, you got your celestial dream, so...

Mia Nardi-Huffman  07:05

Exactly. Yeah, my cat is named Stella, so there's a lot of celestial stuff going on by naming practices.

Nanette McGuinness  07:11

Yeah, so it's a good name.

Mia Nardi-Huffman  07:13

Yeah.

Nanette McGuinness  07:13

And I should say, going back, you were talking about some nice spaces, Old First, where you had wanted been and wanted to perform, it has fabulous acoustics.

Mia Nardi-Huffman  07:23

Oh, incredible. Yeah.

Nanette McGuinness  07:26

I mean, I remember when I was still a young singer and was putting together a demo back when I did that, as opposed to just taking performance things and saying, you know, this is live, this is me..

Mia Nardi-Huffman  07:36

Yeah.

Nanette McGuinness  07:36

...but I did one of my early demos there.

Mia Nardi-Huffman  07:41

mmhmm, Yeah.

Nanette McGuinness  07:42

And you know it's just a really nice space to perform.

Mia Nardi-Huffman  07:46

Yes, yeah, I remember that, like when we had our sound check there, just...  the sound just pings right out. It's really, really nice.

Nanette McGuinness  07:54

mmhmm

Mia Nardi-Huffman  07:54

...and I feel that I noticed this with Ninth Planet as well, when we were looking for spaces to perform around that size. There aren't a lot in San Francisco.

Nanette McGuinness  08:03

No, there's that one. There's Noe Valley Ministry.

Mia Nardi-Huffman  08:07

Yes, yeah.

Nanette McGuinness  08:08

...and the Community Music Center. These are all spaces that will hold... Community Music Center, is a little smaller. They hold, I think, 100 to 120 whereas I think Old First and Noe Valley, depending on whether they open up their balcony or not, they hold, let's say, 200-ish.

Mia Nardi-Huffman  08:27

Yeah.

Nanette McGuinness  08:27

But you're right, that's... I'm sure there are other spaces I'm not thinking of, but those are the most famous chamber...

Mia Nardi-Huffman  08:34

Yes.

Nanette McGuinness  08:35

...settings right there. So, and old first, I think a couple of years ago celebrated the 50th year of their series...

Mia Nardi-Huffman  08:43

Yeah.

Nanette McGuinness  08:43

And they do all sorts of stuff, but...

Mia Nardi-Huffman  08:45

Yes.

Nanette McGuinness  08:45

...you know, they've been a wonderful home to musicians for tons of great concerts, so you know, may they keep going. [laughs]

Mia Nardi-Huffman  08:51

Yes, I hope so. They're fantastic. It was, yeah, so nice to play there.

Nanette McGuinness  08:56

Yeah, I've performed there both before E4TT existed, and then once it did, and so forth. Yeah, so you do a lot of teaching, and you're digging around, and you're having a great time back in your home city.

Mia Nardi-Huffman  09:09

Yes, absolutely. Yeah, I teach all over the place. I'm on faculty at the 92nd Street Y, so...

Nanette McGuinness  09:15

Nice.

Mia Nardi-Huffman  09:16

I have students there. Yeah, and then I have my private students, and and I teach on Zoom, so yeah, lots of teaching and lots of playing, but that's really how I like it, lots of music all the time.

Nanette McGuinness  09:28

That's so wonderful. Well, thank you so much for joining us. It was great having you on this podcast, and we're looking forward to the fall.

Mia Nardi-Huffman  09:35

Me too. Thank you so much for having me.

Nanette McGuinness  09:40

[OUTRO MUSIC] Thank you for listening to For Good Measure, and a special thank you to our guest, Margaret Halbig, for joining us today. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to our podcast by clicking on the subscribe button and support us by sharing it with your friends, posting about it on social media and leaving us a rating and a review. To learn more about E4TT, our concert season online and in the Bay Area, or to make a tax-deductible donation, please visit us at www.E4TT.org. This podcast is made possible by grants from the California Arts Council, the San Francisco Arts Commission, Grants for the Arts, and generous donors like you. For Good Measure is produced by Nanette McGuinness and Ensemble for These Times, and design by Brennan Stokes, with special thanks to Co-producer and Audio Engineer Stephanie M. Neumann. Remember to keep supporting equity in the arts and tune in next week "for good measure." [OUTRO MUSIC ENDS]